Originally Posted by oscillate

Good point. I personally am less interested in hearing about the 'trend jumpers' that largely define mainstream popular music, and always have.

I suppose, without getting too subjective, the bigger question I'm getting at is the idea of "artist" vs. "entertainer." I'm curious as to whether we have reached a point, at least within the fragmented abyss that is mainstream culture, where we value entertainers over artists. I suppose the definition of artist is somewhat subjective, but for the sake of this discussion, an artist is someone with the vision, musical means or talent, and ambition to explore new musical territories rather than treading over old ground.

We could start throwing specific artists/bands into the mix to discuss it more specifically (which is probably inevitable in this thread), but that could get heated.